Bretheren, I seek your guidance. I have read the scriptures but have not found enlightenment. No doubt the answer is there but I understand not the wisdom. I beg thine assistance. (Ok...I'll cut that out. :p)

I have a flat file (with some 185k lines)with values like the following:

"CHEVY","US","UNITED STATES"
"MERCEDES","DE","GERMANY"
"PEUGOT","FR","FRANCE"
"FORD","US","UNITED STATES"
"LADA","RU","RUSSIAN FEDERATION"
"SATURN",US","UNITED STATES"
"ROLLSROYCE","UK","UNITED KINGDOM
"BMW","DE","GERMANY"
<c>
</p>
As the file is read via a while() loop I'm putting the country code (i
+.e. US, DE, etc.) into a hash.</p>  
<c>
while(<DB>) {
    @db = split/,/;
    push(@countries,$db["1]);
}
[download]

I need to do the following:

1. If the country code is not in the hash, add it with a value of 1;
2. If the country code is in the hash, increment the value by 1;
3. When all the entries are in the hash sort it so that it prints out from highest to lowest.

My questions:

1) Is a hash the proper structure for what I'm trying to do?

2) If so, how do I get it to do what I'd like?

Thank you in advance for your help. My experience is at the beginner level and I sincerely appreciate your help.

Rob

ElMagnifico - I work at it so that maybe one day it'll be true! :-D

20080205 Janitored by Corion: Added formatting, code tags, as per Writeup Formatting Tips

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